North Mymms has re-signed Sri Lankan league star Chanaka Ruwansiri for their 2022 Hertfordshire Cricket League campaign.
One of the very best…
Ruwansiri is a Sri Lankan sensation, who starred in the Northants League between 2015, and 2019, including a Premiership in 2015.
Playing for Rushden Town, he topped the Premier run charts in 2015 (922 runs at 54.24), 2016 (768 runs at 54.86), and 2018 (878 runs at 58.53), and finished narrowly second in 2019 (994 runs at 58.47). He also excelled with the ball, taking 32 wickets at 16.63 in his maiden season before finishing second and third on the Premier wicket charts in 2016 (42 wickets at 15.38) and 2018 (38 wickets at 17.42). To be fair, despite not featuring towards the top of either run or wicket chart in 2017, he still produced a storming season, racking up 810 runs at over 47 and 36 wickets at 22.75.
Domestic star
Ruwansiri is a dynamic cricketer – an explosive batter and wicket-taking off-spinner, who has played 153 domestic matches in Sri Lanka for the best part of a decade. In 69 first-class matches, he has 3,517 runs at 32.26 with 6 centuries, alongside 98 wickets at 31.54 with 2 five-wicket hauls. His most recent Premier Tournament, the 2019/20 season, was his most prolific, scoring 645 runs at 46.07 with 2 centuries and 17 wickets to boot.
Prolific pro abroad
However, it’s in UK league cricket that he’s really impressed, particularly during his 5-season Northants League stint, following his maiden UK season with Bolton League club Tonge in 2014, and a subsequent stint with North Mymms (Hertfordshire Cricket League) in 2021.
Ruwansiri belted 17 hundreds for Rushden Town (who after recently merging, are now known as Rushden and Higham Town) – the majority of these have been belligerent, match-winning innings. In total, he churned out 4,701 runs at 52.23 with a further 21 half-centuries for the Northants club.
Ruwansiri was equally dominant with the ball, with 8 five-wicket hauls. Interestingly, during 6 of his 8 league 5-for’s, the Sri Lankan star also churned out runs in complete all-round performances. These included match performances of 5-37 (17) and 92 (94) v Geddington and 6-39 (10) and 83 (94) against 2014 Premiers (and 2015 Runners-Up) Peterborough Town and 5-39 (10) and 153 v Horton House in 2018. In all cricket for Rushden, Ruwansiri bagged 203 wickets at 18.57.
North Mymms return in 2022
After five outstanding summers with Rushden Town, including a Northants Premier League winning season, Ruwansiri decided to seek pastures new and signed with North Mymms for their 2021 Hertfordshire Cricket League campaign. Whilst not as prolific, with averages of 29.13, and 22.54, with bat and ball respectively, his performances were sufficient to secure a return to the club in 2022.
